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Friday, March 2, 2018

What Is Your Understanding of...?

We carry baggage...our experience, beliefs, and opinions.

We know that the earth is about 4.54 billion years old. How do we respond to someone who believes it's less than 10,000 years old? Facts don't necessarily change our opinions. But we all suffer from "knowledge gaps," that we don't know what we don't know. That is especially true for young players who are developing their total game...athleticism, skill, knowledge, vision, and emotional resiliency. This renders the question, "what is your understanding of __________" critical. Last night we played a team that played multiple defenses...but used simple 'calls'...23 was 2-3 zone, 50 was half court man, 100 was full court pressure, and 'diamond' was the classic 1-2-1-1 pressure. We fed their black swan (multiple defenses) by throwing long passes and occasionally dribbling into primary trap zones, the combination leading to excessive turnovers. That was the enduring lesson.Teams use many different strategies to assign defenses...colors, names, geometric figures, numbers (e.g. 1-100 simulates a football field, 1-4 divides the court into quarters), or combinations. That's a foreign language to young players. With limited practice time and no film breakdown, growing game understanding leading to the triad of VDE - vision, decisions, and execution, challenges everyone.

Primary trap zones...Overall, we had a successful season (12-3, advancement to the next division) and growth in our skill and game understanding. But we have growth opportunities in all areas. Our communication, spacing, passing, and ability to separate and finish are priorities. Lagniappe:Shooting better. 1. Warm up your shot. 2. Practice with a purpose. Develop a routine. "Free shooting" isn't a workout routine.

3. Use the tools available. Have a parent, friend, or teammate take video with your phone. Study your 'whole' shot...pre-shot preparation, footwork, alignment, position of your elbow, consistency of release point, follow-through and backspin. 4. Understand the process. Check out video of how successful shooters shoot. Everyone is different. Begin to understand what will work for you. But no successful shooter has bad form, lacks ability to separate, and doesn't practice game shots at game speed.